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thisbigcity:

San Antonio’s Mayor has recently taken on a bold initiative to fund pre-kindergarten education through a sales tax increase. And despite these uncertain economic times, it is being widely supported by politicians and citizens. Check out our latest post.

As a mom to an almost-3 year old who just started preschool a few weeks ago thanks go daycare assistance from the state, this is something VERY dear to my heart. So many of my friends can’t afford to work and are trapped in their homes because daycare/preschools are too expensive. This is best for the kids, and for the women (and sometimes dads) who often have to stay home until full-day school because of costs.

Study after study demonstrates that high quality pre-k can have strong, positive impacts on educational, life, and societal outcomes. In their report to Mayor Castro, the Task Force points to a study from the University of Wisconsin which found that an average of $6,730 invested in the early education of a child saved $47,759 in the long run by eliminating or reducing expenses associated with remediation, unemployment and incarceration. Some of the most profound findings on pre-k to date were published last summer in the journal Science. In a study titled ‘School-Based Early Childhood Education and Age-28 Well-Being: Effects by Timing, Dosage, and Subgroups’, researchers zeroed in on what, if any, impact participation in pre-k at the age of 3 or 4 years might have on economic, health and family outcomes during ones adult years. By age 28, study participants who were enrolled in pre-k had, on average, higher educational levels, incomes, socioeconomic status, and rates of health coverage as well as lower rates of substance abuse and involvement with the criminal justice system than students who began their schooling in kindergarten.